The Simcoe Muskoka District Health Unit is reporting three new deaths and five more people hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the most recent update on June 14.
Among the latest deaths reported are two Simcoe County men over 79 years old who died on June 11 and 12, and a Simcoe County woman between 65 and 79 years old who died on June 2.
The health unit reported 22 COVID-19 deaths in May, 30 in April, and 25 in March.
There are 14 people from the region hospitalized because of COVID-19.
Testing has captured 230 new COVID-19 cases in the region since the last update on June 7. Because testing is not available to everyone, case counts are underestimated.
The number of confirmed new cases was up slightly last week with 215 cases reported the week of June 5 compared to 193 cases reported the week of May 29.
Since the start of the pandemic, the local health unit has confirmed 45,999 cases of COVID-19, with 45,238 of those cases recovered and 499 cases ending in death.
Of the deaths reported by the health unit since March 2020, 428 were COVID-19-related, 56 deaths were not related to COVID-19 but the person tested positive, and for 12 of them, the cause of death is unknown or pending.
To date, 83 per cent of the population aged five years old and up are fully vaccinated with two or more doses, and 18 per cent of the region’s total population (including children) is unvaccinated.
According to monitoring of the region’s hospitals by the health unit, 65 per cent of the region’s ICU beds are full and 35 per cent of the ventilator beds are occupied. Acute care occupancy is highest with 87 per cent of the beds in the region currently full.
Wastewater monitoring in Collingwood, Barrie, Orillia, and Midland shows COVID-19 virus DNA as present in each of the communities, but there's been no increase or decrease noted in the last week.
